Chad Mitchell Biography

Chad Mitchell (Portland, Oregon, USA), Mike Kobluk and Mike Pugh were students at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, USA, when they formed this influential folk group in 1958. They then crossed America, performing when able, before arriving in New York to secure a recording contract. The following year, Pugh dropped out in favour of Joe Frazier, while the Trios accompanist, Dennis Collins, was replaced by guitarist Jim McGuinn, who later found fame with the Byrds. The band then embarked on their most successful era, when they became renowned for songs of a satirical or socially-conscious nature. Chad Mitchell left for a solo career in 1965. He was replaced by aspiring songwriter John Denver, but the restructured act, now known as the Mitchell Trio, found it difficult to sustain momentum. Frazier and Kobluk also left the band, which was then sued by its former leader for continuing to use the original name. With the addition of David Boise and Mike Johnson, the new trio was known as Denver, Boise And Johnson, but split up in 1969 when first Johnson, then Denver, left to pursue independent projects. In subsequent years there have been occasional reunions of the original line-up.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.